Gen. (R) Hamid Gul says that Washington’s policies in Afghanistan and Pakistan have not borne fruit and that the US military will be ultimately defeated by the Taliban
Lieutenant-General Hamid Gul was a military commander in the Pakistani Army in the 1980s, and served as the head of the country’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency from 1987 to 1989.
But Gul’s rise to fame came during the Pakistan-Saudi-US effort to keep funds and logistical support flowing to the Afghanistan mujahidin, who were eventually credited with defeating Soviet military and political forces.
During the Bush administration, the US sought to put Gul on a UN list of international terrorists but their efforts were blocked by the Chinese delegation.
Domestically, Gul has been an outspoken opponent of Asif Ali Zardari, the Pakistani president, and has called for the Supreme Court to be reinstated as the rule of law in Pakistan.
Al Jazeera interviewed Gul during a short visit to Doha.
Baradar’s capture signifies a split within the Afghan Taliban, as he headed the minority faction more open to negotiations with the Afghan government and the US. His secret negotiations in Dubai may have angered hardliners including Mullah Omar, who have rejected the offers of negotiations and reconciliation with the Karzai government, and representatives of the US and NATO.
Ahmed Quraishi got the last word on Aljazeera’s Inside Story to calmly mention some facts about what the ‘other India’ is doing in Afghanistan, in a show where a former director of Indian Military Intelligence and an American think-tank type from Washington spent time demonizing Pakistan. Aljazeera’s anchor Imran Jardah was neutral. He admitted the discussion was ‘lopsided’ because AQ couldnt join in the show earlier because of technical reasons.
Al Jazeera has obtained an exclusive interview with Sirajuddin Haqqani, a Taliban commander fighting US and Nato forces in Afghanistan.
US commanders have identified the Pakistan-based Haqqani network – which allegedly has ties with Pakistan’s ISI – as one of the biggest threats to US forces in Afghanistan. The network carries out attacks on foreign forces across the majority of eastern Afghanistan. The US has put a $5 million bounty on Sirajuddin Haqqani’s head. David Chater has the latest from Kabul.
Below is a more detailed interview with Sirajuddin Haqqani – from 2008:
President Obama’s national security adviser, James Jones, has been a strong advocate of the view that NATO should expand further to the east and to the south to control the energy-producing regions, and take the responsibility for protecting energy supplies to the West—pipelines, sea lanes, and so on.
We’re in Afghanistan which has always been and now more than ever is of great geostrategic importance because of its location relative to the energy-producing regions in the Gulf region and in Central Asia.
Gen. (R) Hamid Gul says that Washington’s policies in Afghanistan and Pakistan have not borne fruit and that the US military will be ultimately defeated by the Taliban
